Reading’s the thing

Contest, skits encourage kids to read with parents

November 27, 2012

Getting kids to read at home with their parents has been a challenge since last year's flood, said Jenn Arlien, principal at Roosevelt and McKinley elementaries.

That's one of the reasons Arlien is grateful for the Horace Mann Agency. The insurance and investment agency, which has a program that benefits education, will give away a girl's bike and a boy's bike in December to lucky young readers. The agency has also donated some books to McKinley and Roosevelt.

Horace Mann Agency owner Jason Rohrer said he had asked how they could help the school and Arlien had suggested something to benefit the reading programs at the schools. Arlien said the children will get their name put into a box for a drawing each time they go home and read with their parents for 20 minutes. The drawing will be held the day before the Christmas break.

Article Photos

Andrea Johnson/MDNRoosevelt Elementary fourth-graders Ashlyn Degele, left, and Taniah Hilton played Thing One and Thing Two during a school assembly Wednesday to encourage kids to read more. Ashlyn was Thing Two and Taniah was Thing One.

"I think it is actually has been an incentive for our backpack readers," said Arlien, who said kids are a little more motivated because they know they can win prizes.

A pep rally to motivate the kids to love reading was held last week and the Horace Mann Company also gave away some tickets to the Globetrotters game that will be played in Minot on Dec. 9. Some kids from the school acted out a skit, playing characters from Dr. Seuss's "Cat in the Hat."